Palestine1 was a fertile area, warm and watered by
Mediterranean
rains -- a most desirable location. It lay between the
sophisticated
societies
of Egypt and Mesopotamia, making it an ideal location for trade
and, of
course, war.

Tradition has it that the Hebrews came with father Abraham from
Ur
in Mesopotamia around
2000 bc, along with Abraham's El
Shaddai ("god of the mountain"). It is
more likely that they were native to the area
just to the east and conquered their close relatives the
Canaanites2
to establish their historical domain. Constant warfare with
neighboring
peoples apparently
resulted in a large number of Hebrews being enslaved by the
Egyptians,
which sets the stage for the singular event of Jewish history, the
Exodus.

Moses, probably an Egyptian,
assisted
the captive Hebrew population in its hour of need, possibly by
introducing
Egyptian cleanliness laws in a time of plague. Around 1300 bc, he
led
them,
it is said, back into Palestine, where they would be of enormous
influence
on their settled brethren.

The Hebrews organized themselves into 12 tribes, with
warrior-priest
chieftains, referred to in the Bible as Judges. Intertribal wars
led
them
to seek a monarch similar to the ones they had observed in Egypt
and
Mesopotamia.
In about 1010 bc, they found that monarch in a ruthless warlord
named
Saul.

Only four years later, his seat was taken by David. After
defeating
the Philistines -- the "Sea People" (possibly early Greeks) who
had
settled the coast -- he established
Jerusalem as his capital.

In 966 bc, David was succeeded by Solomon. Under his rule, the
Hebrews
became rich, investing in the trade between Phoenicia and Egypt,
as
well
as in sea routes to Arabia and east Africa. Solomon had a temple
built
in Jerusalem to contain the Ark
of the Covenant. The Ark was a
gold-covered
wooden box that presumably contained the tablets of the Law that
Moses
received from God Himself at Mt. Sinai. It was the most
sacred
symbol
of Yahweh, and was believed to give the Hebrews power over their
enemies.

The Hebrews were originally polytheistic, even animistic. They
believed
in spirits and, as pastoralists, were particularly devoted to
cults of
the bull, the sheep, and so on. Animal sacrifice was the
tradition,
mostly
at local altars and wilderness sites. They performed divination
using
dice,
something which they would continue to do for many centuries.

It should be noted that much of Genesis consists of the common myths
of the region (and many other regions), such as the creation
story, the
fall of man, the flood, and so on.

Yahweh, possibly the Canaanite god Yehu or Yaw,
became the
"national" god of the Hebrews. With Solomon and the Temple, he was
made
into the greatest god of all. He retained, as the Bible
demonstrates
profusely,
very human characteristics: Jealousy, regret, anger, love of the
scent
of burnt offerings, and openness to bribery were among his
qualities.

Early beliefs did not involve the concept of hell as we now know
it.
There was instead Sheol, a land of darkness beneath the
ground.
But, like Hades among the Greeks and Hel among the
Germans,
it was home to nearly all who died, not just those who sinned.
Unpleasant,
it was not yet a place of eternal torture. But only a
very
few people went to heaven to live with the gods.

The religion revolved around laws -- many of them, and
not
unlike
the laws of the Hindus. Sin could be lifted by means of prayer and
sacrifice,
and uncleanness (such as menstruation and childbirth) by ritual
purification,
all controlled by the priestly caste. Beyond the Commandments, the
Laws of Moses regulated all of life for the Hebrews -- diet,
hygiene,
medicine,
even sexuality.

After Solomon, the condition of the Hebrew tribes began to
deteriorate.
Rich and poor classes developed, and the caste of priests
(descendants
of Levi) became increasingly powerful. Solomon's kingdom split
into
Israel
in the north and Judah in the south. In 722 bc, Sargon II, the
Assyrian
emperor, overwhelmed the entire area.

The Assyrians were a particularly brutal group and the Hebrews,
like
others, suffered greatly. In the era of their
overlordship of Palestine, a number of religious fanatics became
influential
among the Hebrews. They were disdainful of the rich and of the
priests,
and preached that the downfall of the Hebrews was due to their own
sinfulness.
These preachers were, of course, the prophets of the Bible: Amos,
Hosea,
Elijah, and Isaiah.

King Josiah ruled the area from 639 to 609. He and his priests
saw
the
need for a codification of Hebrew traditions to provide solidarity
among
the people. In 622, they "discovered" (or created) a scroll
presumably
written by Moses, and called it the Book of the Covenant or the Law. It
was probably much of Deuteronomy,
and parts of Exodus (xx
to xxiii?).
The
scroll was read outloud over two days and proved to be a hit! With
that
support, Josiah went on to destroy the idols to other gods in
Palestine.

In 587 bc, in the midst of a war between Egypt and Babylonia, the
Babylonian
King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Palestine, destroyed most of
Jerusalem,
including
the Temple. He took much of Jerusalem's population to Babylon as
slaves.
This was the Babylonian
Captivity.

Just prior to the captivity, Jeremiah gave his warnings, and
later,
Ezekial reprimanded the Jews for bringing this on themselves once
again.
Also around this time there was a prophet, who also wrote under
the
name Isaiah,
who developed a new image of Yahweh. His God was the only God, and
he
was
the embodiment of love and kindness. And his ultimate victory over
the
evil of this world would be brought about by a redeemer, the Messiah ("anointed one").

In 539, Cyrus, King of Persia, conquered Babylonia and made
Palestine
part of the Persian Empire. He freed the Babylonian Jews and
restored
their
wealth, and they returned to Jerusalem. They supplanted the
non-Jewish
settlers, rebuilt the Temple, and reestablished priestly rule and
the
Law
of Moses.

Ezra, in 458 bc, had this Law read outloud. This time, it took
two
weeks,
because the collection included the entire five volumes of the Torah.
The
present form of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) was
developed
by 300 bc.

Modern scholars view the Torah as having four authors (or groups
of
authors):

"J" (for Jehovah) called God Yahweh and was likely
from
Judah.
He
was responsible for much of Genesis,
Exodus, and Numbers.

"E" (for Elohim) used Elohim (God) instead, and was
likely from
Israel. He wrote the rest of Genesis,
Exodus, and Numbers.
J and E were
probably integrated soon after 722 bc.

"D" represents the Levite priests who put together Deuteronomy.
It
probably
dates from not long before 622, when King Josiah "discovered"
it.

"P" (for priestly code) covers geneologies and rituals in the
preceding
books, plus Leviticus.
It was probably written not long before King
Josiah
died, in 609. Some believe "P" may have been Jeremiah.

"R" (for redactor) combined J, E, and P into the first four
books
of
the
Torah, and then added
D. Some scholars believe he may have been Ezra.

In 332 bc, Alexander the Great took Jerusalem. It surrendered
without a
fight. Alexander was supposedly an admirer of the Jews and their
God.
This
introduced a long period of Greek rule – and accompanying
Hellenization – which would affect Judaism greatly. Besides a
translation into Greek
called the Septuagint in about 200 bc, the prophets were added to
the
collection
of scriptures during this period, as well as Proverbs, Psalms, the Song
of Solomon, Job, and Ecclesiastes.

The development of a Hellenized Jewish community in Alexandria
(Egypt)
led to a split between those liberal Jews and the more
conservative
Jews
of Palestine. Also, the Samaritans, who inhabited what was
originally
Israel, broke ranks with the Jews of Judea (Judah), keeping only
the
ooriginal Torah
as their scripture.

In 168 bc, Simon Maccabee took Judea out of the hands of
Alexander's
successors (the Seleucids), and began his own dynasty. But in 63
bc,
Pompeii
conquered the area and made Judea a part of the Roman province of
Syria.

The next hundred or so years were crucial ones for the Jews. In
37
bc,
nationalistic Jews in league with Parthian invaders, revolted. The
Romans
had appointed Herod ("the Great") as King of the Jews two years
earlier,
and he repelled the invaders and eliminated their Jewish
supporters. He
ruled the area until 4 bc, which may have been the year in which
Jesus
was born.

Palestine probably had a population of about two and one half
million at this
time, with some 100,000 people in Jerusalem. Three sects became
influential among the Jews:

The Sadducees were a conservative, highly
nationalistic
group.
They
did not believe in immortality.

The Pharisees believed in strict application of the
Law,
and
added
an oral tradition. They did believe in immortality, and were
more
conciliatory
towards the Romans.

The Essenes were an extremist monastic tradition,
possibly
influenced
by Buddhist monastics. They believed that a Messiah would
establish the
Kingdom of Heaven, to which only the "pure" would be admitted.

Over time, the government of Palestine – mostly Roman-appointed Jews
–
would degenerate into incompetence and corruption. Groups of Zealots
(fanatics) arose who swore to kill all disloyal Jews. They killed
quite
a few, and many Gentiles as well. The Gentiles of the area responded
in
kind. Emperor Vespasian sent his son Titus with Roman legions to
Palestine
and Titus offered the Jews a lenient settlement. The Zealots turned
him
down, so the legionnaires slaughtered them.

In 70 ad, Titus ordered the Temple destroyed and the Jews
dispersed – the Diaspora. Millions of Jews spread
throughout the Empire,
which already contained some seven million Jews – roughly 7 % of
the
Empire's
population. With the Diaspora, the Sadducees disappeared and the
Pharisees,
by means of their teachers (rabbis) kept the flame alive by
preaching
the Law in thousands of synagogues.

Around 132 ad, there was another uprising by Jews in the Near
East.
The Emperor Hadrian outlawed teaching of the Law, and destroyed
most of
Judea. Many Jews went to Babylon, where they were fairly well
treated
and
did quite well. In around 500 ad, they completed the Babylonian Talmud,
a collection of commentaries on and explanations of the Law.

Within the Roman Empire, the Jews were granted citizenship (like
everyone
else) in 212 ad. They were, however, greatly disliked by other
Roman
citizens:
They insisted on dressing differently, celebrating different
holidays,
eating different foods. Even more annoying was their exclusivity,
their
firm conviction that they were better than everyone else, and
their
disdain
for anyone else's gods. The increasing popularity of one Jewish
messianic
sect – Christianity –
only made things worse.

In 417 ad, Constantine, the first Christian emperor, lowered the
Jew's
status to secondary citizens of the Empire. They remained in that
precarious
position for the next 1400 years or so.

1. Palestine is the name that the Romans gave to the area.
It
comes from their name for the Philistines, the people who once
occupied
the coast, and who may have been Greeks from Crete or
Cyprus. The
earliest name for Palestine was Canaan,
and today, of course, we call
most
of it Israel.

2. The Hebrews, the Canaanites, and the Phoenicians were
ethnically
the same people. Their languages were merely dialects of each
other,
and
they shared in the use of the first alphabet.